Mash Tun, Hoses, And Suction?

[yardy]

from the pic i think the mani is undersized and would try some rice hulls in the mash and a higher temp for the sparge, more importantly I'd be concerned about the crack in the wall of the Tun and the wort accessing the interior of the esky.

cheers

 

[real_beer]

Another thing i've wondered since last night's postings, if i make my manifold bigger (more drainage points) is this likely to free up the problem, or make the problem worse? If my mash is prone to sticking at the moment, does having more points to drain from lessen the likelihood of a stuck sparge, or could it make it happen even easier?

At the moment, i just have a single length of copper tube running the length of the interior of the esky. I know it's not the greatest design and I know most people have a rectangular or squarish design with more lengths up the middle type thing, but mine has been working like this very well in the past and saw no reason to think about changing it's design until now.

Thanks for the thoughts guys, if any one has other ideas, please let me know...

cheers,

nath

If you want a quick fix cut the crimped end off your manifold and using the clamps you already have attach a braided hose to it that extends the full length of the bottom. The rice hull recommendations of others are probably worth there weight in gold for any batch sparging setup. The more area you have to draw from the better as you have a bigger area that needs to clog up before the flow stops. If you like doing slow runnings just open the tap a lot less to compensate for the increased flow you'll get.

I'd forget about past problems & move on, especially now that you've got a new mill & your probably going to increase your brewing, your current setup might have got the job done but all round it must be very inefficient. If you decide to make a copper manifold, design it to draw fluid evenly across the tun. John Palmer covers this topic great in 'How To Brew' so you can study up with the on-line edition if you want to go down that path. You can never get back the time you lose that you wanted to spend with your kids, especially when their young.

Cheers

 

[bignath]

more importantly I'd be concerned about the crack in the wall of the Tun and the wort accessing the interior of the esky.

:lol: Yeah i can see what you mean....It's not actually a crack, it's just the groove in the plastic from when it was moulded at the factory. It runs the full depth of the esky, top to bottom.

Agreed it looks like a crack in the photo, but i just hadn't gotten around to getting into the groove with the toothbrush before taking the pic. It's just discolouration and mash build up.

It's the only downside to the mash tun is that it's got a lot of moulding grooves in the interior which makes cleaning a PITA. It's also got approximate litre markings on the interior which also get filled with crap which needs cleaning.

I'll get around to giving it the usual good clean once i've got the manifold sorted. Just got back from the plumbing shop with all the fittings i need to build a new square manifold with a few lengths running through the middle.

Will hopefully get to put it together tonight and see how it goes from there....

 

[yardy]

:lol: Yeah i can see what you mean....It's not actually a crack, it's just the groove in the plastic from when it was moulded at the factory. It runs the full depth of the esky, top to bottom.

Agreed it looks like a crack in the photo, but i just hadn't gotten around to getting into the groove with the toothbrush before taking the pic. It's just discolouration and mash build up.

It's the only downside to the mash tun is that it's got a lot of moulding grooves in the interior which makes cleaning a PITA. It's also got approximate litre markings on the interior which also get filled with crap which needs cleaning.

I'll get around to giving it the usual good clean once i've got the manifold sorted. Just got back from the plumbing shop with all the fittings i need to build a new square manifold with a few lengths running through the middle.

Will hopefully get to put it together tonight and see how it goes from there....

no worries, better safe than sorry

the cleaning shouldn't be a big deal, after the mash mine always got a hose out and i backflushed through the tap to the mani and a soak in hot water with a small amount of PBW, you shouldn't have to scrub it.

look forward to seeing the upgrade

cheers

 

[bignath]

Righto, just finished putting my new and hopefully improved manifold together. Water test works great, drains the esky dry and is easy to get around to clean out the mash afterward.

Decided to centre punch to corners and tee's to hold it together but left the tee that goes to the hose barb loose. This allows the manifold to be removed if i need to, and it also means that the manifold sits flat on the esky bottom. Hopefully brew this weekend so i'll see how she goes!

 

[bignath]

Here's another shot showing how it flips up to allow access to clean underneath. All up i think it works well, and am happy with it.



Usually im pretty shit with handyman type stuff, so i'm pretty stoked with how it turned. Any opinions or alterations i should consider, please let me know.

Cheers n beers,

Nath

 

[Tim F]

Nice! Bet it works a treat.

 

[felten]

It looks sexy. Only thing I can think of that might need altering is it being too close to the walls of the esky on the short sides. I seem to remember Palmer's book mentioning that could cause channeling.

It looks pretty flash though.

 

[stux]

How about "a batch of sticky grain has hilited a deficiency in your current manifold"?

 

[bignath]

yep, that's why i built the new one last night.

 

[jyo]

Awesome looking manifold, Nath. Hopefully that solves your problems, mate.

 

[yardy]

Righto, just finished putting my new and hopefully improved manifold together. Water test works great, drains the esky dry and is easy to get around to clean out the mash afterward.

Decided to centre punch to corners and tee's to hold it together but left the tee that goes to the hose barb loose. This allows the manifold to be removed if i need to, and it also means that the manifold sits flat on the esky bottom. Hopefully brew this weekend so i'll see how she goes!

nice job on the mani, pin punching the joins does the trick.

Yard

 

[Acasta]

Looks ggggreat! Good work.

 

[MaltyHops]

It looks sexy. Only thing I can think of that might need altering is it being too close to the walls of the esky on the short sides. I seem to remember Palmer's book mentioning that could cause channeling.

It looks pretty flash though.

I'm in the process of building an almost identical 1/2" copper manifold
in its Coleman little-brother 19L cooler also with outer pipes right up
against the cooler walls as a way to keep the manifold from moving
around.

Quite aware of the channelling issue from Palmer's doc so am going to
vary the amount of slot cuts - maybe put 3 or 5 spread out cuts on the
outer pipes and 'normal' number of cuts along the inner pipes. I think
without any slot cuts to the outer pipes, you would then get a dead
space a the side walls.

T.

 

[jyo]

How'd you end up going with the new setup, Nath? Problem solved?

 

[warra48]

Channeling is an issue, but only if you fly sparge. If you batch sparge, you'll be sweet.
My manifold also lifts up the way yours does, so it's easy to take out of the mashtun and clean it up.

 

[bignath]

UPDATE:

Thanks guys for all of your help with problemshooting my stuck sparge issues...

Problem is completely solved. New manifold works beautifully, drains really quick with no signs of stopping, no channelling, reckon it leaves 10ml of liquid in the bottom of the tun, and that would be in the cavity where the tap is fitted so i can't get that bit out.

Pretty sure if i wanted to, i could open the tap the whole way with no problems, but for now, i'll just keep going at 3/4 open and collect my volume twice as fast as with previous manifold.

Overall im chuffed, particularly with my history of building stuff.

Once again, cheers for all your help and comments.

Nath

 

[Old Farts Brauhaus]

Hi Mate. looking at your problem,I thought i might be able to offer some help. I think you are needing a mesh type cage to fit around the copper tube in the bottom of your esky. i have a piece of stainless fine mesh sheet that i can bring down next trip that can be be made to sit away from the tube giving you a larger diameter around the tube, keeping the grain from actually sitting against or packing against the tube, which should give you a better draining area. I also think you may need to prime the empty tube with liquid to get the air from inside the plastic hose prior to opening the tap. this liquid will act as a drawing weight to pull the liquid from the mash tun. Old Fart's Brewhaus.